April 1st 2012 saw the proposed amendment to the Civic Government Act, which would mean that “free entry to public entertainment events would require to be licensed“,pass into law. In response an esteemed group of local musicians organised precisely the sort of event that would be, from that date, illegal under the act. Unfortunately I got there a bit late to catch eagleowl‘s opening set, but I did see Fuzzystar, Jamie from Broken Records, Neil from Meursault and Wounded Knee. A few dozen enthusiastic punters filled Leith’s Clock Caféto spend a beautifully sunny spring afternoon by The Shore as desperate outlaws; and to join some of Edinburgh’s finest musicians in protesting against this hopelessly misguided and potentially disastrous new law. And it must be said we all had a fine old time sticking it to the man.

Here’s a few shots from this year’s fantastic Retreat! festival, laid on for us again by Tracer Trails. I was covering the afternoon shifts so caught photos of the mysterious Burger, No Burger; along with a great electronica set from FOUND, the first chance for me to see Fur Hood who were brilliant, and an all-star set from the Rob St John experience. Then on Sunday I caught a bit of eagleowl before battery problems scuppered any photoing for the rest of the day. So all I could do was sit back, get a bit drunk and enjoy the show!

Jonnie Common‘s a clever lad. He had the idea to ask a selection of Scotland’s leading musical lights to send him stripped-down performances of some their songs so he could mess about with them, which they did. He then squirrelled himself away, adding layers of bleeps and bloops and rattles and crashes to the artists’ guide tracks, as is his wont; and the result is Deskjob. And, of course, it’s brilliant. These photos are from the launch night in Glasgow, and if you’re quick you can buy a copy here, otherwise you’ll have to pick up a copy next time you’re at one of the bands’ shows.

This venue hasn’t been open long, and this was my first visit. Whenever I thought about the name I started singing Thin Lizzy’s Whisky In The Jar in my head. Then I remembered they actually sing about Molly’s chamber, not Maggie’s. Anyway, Eagleowl, The Last Battle and The Oates Field gave us all a good night, despite not doing any Thin Lizzy covers.